Alain Sihaphone goes under the moniker of 'Rai-C' which stands for Representing All Indo-China. Right now he is 18 years old and lives in Sydney, Australia. His mother is half Thai (Nongkhai) and Chinese, and his father is of Lao descent (Hat Kiang).

He grew up listening to Rock and Roll and Soul music owned by his father. His father’s taste ranged from The Eagles and The Doors, to Pink Floyd and KISS, to Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson, to The Beatles and The Bee Gees. Rai-C regularly whips out the old tape player and listens to his music which is a great inspiration to him.

Currently, his favorite artists are T.I., Slim Thug, and Juvenile. His all time rap inspirations are Tupac, Dr. Dre and Jin.

Rai-C evolved into a versatile rap artist, producer and also a graphic designer. He started out in late 2003 and early 2004 writing poetry and music together. It was a revelation to him he could do this rap thing and started out writing 'keystyles', rap battling at school, audio rap battling over the net and, recording songs. His raps revolve around his daily life: things he sees, feels, places he went, parties, girls, cars, and more issues that bug his young mind. His sound ranges from South to Westcoast, and he strives to fuse other musical genres into music to reflect his diverse taste and the musical environment he was raised in.

As for being an Asian rapper from South West Sydney, he is proud to be out there representing not only the area he was brought up in but also his nationality and heritage. There are only a few more Lao (or Thai) rappers from Sydney so his is part of the happy few.

He has gained recognition from his former Asian rapper idols such as Jin and The Far*East Movement, and he is happy to call them friends. He has big plans for the future and is currently working on his first official album, currently due sometime later in 08! Keep your ears tuned for this boy, he shows great potential and promise!


www.myspace.com/raic